Love Not Wasted
by Demonic-Clover
Summary: Hey there! I'm not dead! A little bloop before school ends, to show you I'm not dead! A story for Irwin from the gold-silver-crystal gameboy games. Has two endings. I love the first one. RR, anybody?


Okay, Irwin is a guy who's number you can get in Poke'mon Gold, Silver and Crystal, in case you didn't know…he's kind of a stalker, really, but he's cool. I wanted to write a Poke'mon story, and one with Irwin falling in love with the girl from crystal, and I'm really bored. Okay, so please RR!

**-**

Irwin the Juggler leaned up against the fence post, letting the sunrays lick his face. The 15-year-old took off his cape and jacket along with his hat, draping them across the small picket fence and letting the grin come over him as he smiled at the bright ball of fire in the sky.

Even the sun reminded him of her, almost as much as the moon did. The sun, so bright and flaming, with such a glow…The way she glowed, the flame she had in her soul and eyes…

He shook his head, trying to clean out these thoughts. Why did he think like that about her lately? Why did now his face go red at her voice, presence, hell, his heart sped up just thinking about her! She was two years younger, always traveling, and caring more about her Pokemon than any boy, anyway.

He smacked his forehead with his hand. 'So?!' He thought angrily. 'Get over it!'

He sighed in defeat of his thoughts, reaching down for his Poke' gear to call her when a familiar 'Hey!' ran through the air.

He turned to see the young teenage girl running towards him, waving a hand in the air with a smile on her face. Her blue pigtails bounced around her, and her sky-blue eyes glittered clearly, only to meet his undeserving green-gray ones. The sun made everything so bright, and she seemed to have and angelic light bursting from her.

'She's beautiful.' some part of his mind sighed. Irwin realized after just what he had thought. 'Damn.'

She finally reached him, still smiling. "Hiya Irwin!"

He grinned back at her. Her smile was contagious. "Hey, Chikage."

"Guess what, guess what!!" she cried. Irwin blinked. He had never seen her so excited. Normally, he was the hyper active one, and she was smiling politely trying to calm him down. He laughed.

"What?"

"I got all 16 gym badges! ALL 16! I beat 'em all! AND the Elite four! AND the champion! ALL of them! This is sooo great!" she cried, dancing around. An unexplainable joy burst in him at her happiness.

"That's wonderful!" he cried, picking her up and spinning her around. He had already known about the defeating of the Elite four and Lance, and she had 15 badges when she had last called, but the fact she had completed all of it still amazed him.

As her last laugh faded, Irwin realized 1) Chikage's arms were around his neck; 2) Their faces were WAY closer than they had ever been before, and 3) They had just acted like they were dating.

'Which were not,' Irwin's thoughts retorted at his last realization, as he and Chikage both stumbled away from each other. He noticed Chikage's face was slowly going red. Was she mad at him? He hadn't meant to do that; it was just instinct or something…

Suddenly he thought of a guy's natural instincts to a girl, and he faked a cough to hide his quickly reddening face at the mental image he just had.

"Er…that's really great though!" he smiled back at her, trying to erase any weirdness they had just had. She smiled. "You must be the best trainer around, to beat them all. I'm really impressed. You're really strong, and you've trained your Pokemon so well. You really love them a lot," he said. He meant every word of it. She was so strong, she loved her Pokemon, and she didn't need a boyfriend to rely on…

Chikage's smile grew, and her face caught the rays of the sun. "Thank you." she said, her voice soft and truthful. A cluster of spring flower petals blew by, and Irwin felt his face get warm as they stood, smiling deeply at each other.

"Um…Irwin…"Chikage started. Irwin suddenly realized how unusual he must seem, just standing there smiling. He jumped, spinning around as his face went bright red. "Er, uh, but seriously, aren't you really the very strongest trainer? You've defeated the best of the best!" he said, trying to sound like normal as he turned his head to face her.

She let out a sigh. "No…there's this trainer on Mt. Silver, named Red. He has a well-diverse team, and all his Pokemon are so strong. I don't know if I can beat him at my current strength." She forced a small smile to him. "Bad thing about being the best is its so hard to find training partners. 'Course, Eli's a great training partner, too. But he's always such a sore loser."

Irwin flinched inwardly. He had met Eli…

"Hey, I have an idea!" Chikage cried. "Can you make it to New Bark town? I would love to for you to help me train!" she smiled at him. Irwin felt his heart skip a beat. "Uh, um, s-sure," he just barely muttered. She smiled, his stutter going unnoticed. "That's great! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?!!" she called, jogging off with a wave. Irwin felt insanely happy, but still a little depressed. So, she was training with her rival, Eli….

--MAGICAL FLASHBACK OF SUPER CRAZY DOOM--

Chikage's words rung in his head.

"Do NOT follow me to the Indigo Plato! …Well, yeah I've beaten them, I'm going there for training, and if you're there I'll get nervous! SO DON'T FOLLOW!"

Of course, Irwin had followed to watch her terrific battles. He was in the center before you actually go to face the trainers, watching the TV's showing the current fights, when he noticed a red head boy glaring at the screen.

"She's amazing, isn't she?" he said to him, as Chikage's Sandslash took out one of Koga's poison Pokemon. The boy glared. "She's a sucky rival." he replied, still glaring.

"Rival…?" Irwin repeated dumbly. "Wait, wait, are you Eli? Eli Eli? Stupid Eli? Eli-the-dumbass-who-doesn't-know-crap-about-Pokemon-and-should-burn-in-hell-after-I-kick-his-ass? That Eli?!" Irwin asked. Chikage talked about his idiocy a lot. The boy winced.

"I assume so. She's always put trust in her Poke'mon, always treated them well and with faith, so she's so strong. I've always lost to her…" Eli looked at the TV without glaring, then to Irwin. "You know her?"

"Yeah, I'm kind of her sidekick (Okay, so he had dubbed himself her sidekick without her knowledge). Why?"

"Did…did she really say all that about me?"

Irwin blinked. He sounded kind of…sad. "Uh, yeah, but I don't think it matters. She just would get ticked off a lot easier a while ago. You've probably said all that about her, too."

Eli's gaze drifted to the screen again, where Chikage was starting her next battle. "I used to think that way, but now I don't. She's so strong, so powerful. She cares so much for all of her Pokemon, and knows their limits. She can tell what battles she can win and what battles she can't. She sees past what I couldn't even understand. She's a beautiful warrior." Eli's eyes drifted to the ground. "And she's so kind to near everyone. Even when I shoved her around, called her weak, insulted her, laughed at her…When she was forcing me to see all there is about Pokemon and their relationships with trainers, and I was too ignorant and stubborn to even hear her, she still treated me like a decent person. She's…" Eli trailed off.

"Wonderful?" Irwin offered reluctantly.

"Yeah…" Eli muttered. His eyes widened in surprise, and he straitened up, his face such a florescent red that he would have lit up the room if the lights went out. "Uh, er, of course not! She's so stupid. She only won by luck the first times she beat me. I will prove my worth by beating her. I--I-I don't know what came over me." He shoved past Irwin, glaring with a face that was beginning to match his hair.

'He's denying the obvious.' Irwin thought, shaking his head.

--END MAGICAL FLASHBACK OF SUPER CRAZY DOOM--

Irwin felt a tang of jealousy at Eli getting to train with Chikage. Of course, he would get to train with her tomorrow…

A little part of him hummed a note of joy, and he smiled huge as he let out his Pokemon, enjoying the feel of the sun as life.

Playing in the grass around their trainer, the two Voltorb's and two Magnamite's looked at their trainer with worry. He's been acting so bizarrely…

-

"Absolutely not," said a young bug catcher, shaking his head. Irwin gave him a pleading face.

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaase?" Irwin faked a tear, even. Arnie cast an eye on him.

"Fine, fine, fine," he muttered, giving in. He tossed up a poke'ball, and a Yanma popped out. "Fly him to New Bark Town," he said with a sigh, and the Yanma grabbed Irwin by his shoulders and lifted him in to the air instantaneously. Irwin spent a moment laughing as he swung, and yelled thanks to his friend as he flew off. He would have waved, but he was afraid that he would have pulled his arm free from the Yanma's grip. 

 As he drifted over the towns and forest, Irwin smiled to himself. It felt odd with no ground under his feet (well, technically, there was a lot of ground under him, he just wasn't standing on it). He liked this loose feeling of flying, and wanted to share it with someone…

He noticed the city called Cherrygrove just ahead of him. 'The cherry trees will be blossoming soon,' he thought with a smile. He wondered if Chikage would like to go with them to see them fall.

'We could have a picnic,' he thought, 'and let the Pokemon out, and just sit there and watch them…I bet she would look nice, with all the cherry blossoms around her…' Irwin smiled deeply inside. He wondered if he would get the courage to ask her.

He noticed that the Yanma was lowering him in the center in the small clearing of houses that was New Bark town, and he was a bit unsure of how to walk again. He waved as the Yanma flew back to his owner, and then turned to look around.

In the small town, there were only a few houses, and a large building that he guessed was Prof. Elm's research lab. Chikage suddenly burst out of one of the homes, running to him with a smile.

"Irwin! Teeheehee…" she giggled a bit, and he noticed her hair was down and unusually well brushed. She normally didn't even brush her hair at all, let alone taking them out of the usual pigtails. Irwin noted another reason he liked her so much was she wasn't a make-up obsessed and annoyingly peppy, like most girls. She had a very positive attitude, but she didn't normally giggle, like she had just then. He wondered if she was feeling okay.

"Hey! But I should warn you, I've been training my Poke'mon a lot, and we're much stronger." He said with a grin, and Chikage poked his cheek. He felt himself blush at the simple touch.

"You look so unbelievably arrogant, you know. I'm one of the best, you're only a trainer I'm using to get experience points." she said with a laugh, and pulled his cheeks out.

Irwin struggled against her hold, and she laughed more. "Owieee…" Irwin moaned. "Weggou…"

Chikage grinned. "Stop whining, you. You're supposed to be a man." She let go, dancing a few feet away and pulled out a Poke'ball. "It's been so long since I first battled you! I'll wanna see if you've gotten any new Poke'mon." She enlarged the Poke'ball.

Irwin pulled out a Poke'ball with Voltorb. "I wanna see how much you've improved."

"GO! Sandslash!" She cried, tossing out the poke'ball. The Sandslash popped out. Irwin flinched. He was already in a though spot just fighting her, even if she would've had all bird Poke'mon. He let Voltorb out. "Go, Voltorb!"

Sandslash clicked up a blade. Voltorb glared with a nervous determination.

"Sandslash, Sandstorm!" Chikage cried, and Irwin held up his hands to shield his eyes from the sand. He peered though his arms to see Chikage, standing still with her arms crossed, appearing ignorant to the storm blowing around her, and it was the same with her Sandslash. Voltorb squinted through the storm, and Irwin decided to attack.

"Tackle!" he cried. Voltorb lurched forward, but he was no match for Sandslash's speed. The Sandslash jumped to the side, and then jumped to attack with one of the blades.

"Get out of the way!" Irwin cried, and the Voltorb rolled back, suddenly flinching in pain. Irwin realized the Sandstorm was hurting Voltorb. He gritted his teeth.

"Try Rollout!" He yelled, and the Voltorb hurtled forward with a greater speed.

"Dig!" She yelled, and the Poke'mon dove underground, leaving Irwin and his Voltorb in suspense for a fair amount of minutes, waiting…

And then Sandslash jump up from under the Voltorb, knocking him in the air and knocking him out. Irwin called it back, but then stared with a flicker of determination. "Okay, so you are really good."

Chikage just laughed and called back the Sandslash, and let out a Noctowl next. "Oh, that was just a warm-up."

Chikage proceeded to beat the next three of his Poke'mon, though he managed to do a considerable amount of damage to her Sentret, which he was quite proud of.

"That's it," Irwin said, calling back his second Magnamite. "You win, I'm out of Poke'mon…"

Chikage smiled, bouncing over and slapping him on the back. "Oh, don't act so glum! You were a lot stronger than a bunch of the people I've fought against!" She didn't act snotty; She didn't say it like she pitied him. Irwin smiled at her, blushing as her long blue hair floated around in the wind.

"Thanks."

"Ah, thank you, for helping me train! It's really appreciated!" Her smile was so bright, it was making his stomach feel funny again…

"H-Hey," Irwin started, "W… Well, you know Cherrygrove City, of course…"

"Duh," She said with a grin, turning around and looking at the water by her house. Just across the lake was Kantoo. "The cherry trees will be blossoming soon."

"Y-Yeah. Um… Would… Would you… like to come watch them with me?"

Chikage gave a little gasp movement, but didn't say anything. 'Oh, great, now she hates me, I should've kept my mouth shut, now she'll have a problem saying no, she's so nice, why would she want a worthless freak like me, She hates me, she hates—"

"If…" Chikage had begun to say, but trailed off. Irwin blinked from his spot.

"If… if I made… If I made a picnic lunch for while we watch, you wouldn't make fun of my food, would you?"

Irwin blanched. "D-D-Does that mean you'll go with me?"

"Will you make fun of my food? I mean, I can't cook well, but I won't go if you're gonna laugh at me." She turned her head to face him. Her face was steadily growing red, and her voice sounded nervous. Her eyes held a mix of depressing emotions, uncertainty, fearfulness, and even a little sadness and anger.

"I-I won't make fun of your cooking," He stuttered, surprised.

"Promise?" She asked flatly, turning to the water again.

"Promise," He said, and she didn't respond. She just stood, facing the water, as the late afternoon sun shone on its surface and the heat filled haze settled on New Bark Town.

'Can I say I love you now? No… no. But I want to stand here for an eternity, just like this, somehow…'

Unfortunately, they couldn't, and Chikage eventually turned back around. "Hey, how you plan to get home?"

"Huh- oh, well, I planned to walk…" He stuttered, sliding back in to his usual embarrassment when he was around her.

Her eyes widened a bit. "But, you would have to camp out in the wild if you left now. It's too late," Her concern showed in her voice.

"Are… are you worried about me camping out? Don't worry, I'll be fine," He said with a smile. Chikage merely shook her head.

"Nah, it's late. I'll let Prof. Elm heal my Poke'mon a bit, and then I'll give you a ride home tomorrow. You can stay over, okay?"

Irwin's face when red, and he began stuttering a 'N-n-n-no, I-I c-c-couldn't..' but Chikage cut him off. "It's no problem," she said, and began walking back to her house. "C'mon, you can meet my mom."

Irwin's face was still red, but he managed to get his legs to work well enough to follow her.

-

Twelve thirty-two.

That's what time it was in the am as Irwin stared at the sleeping figure of Chikage on the floor.

The small digital clock by her TV blipped. Now it was twelve thirty-three, and he still couldn't fall asleep.

Maybe that's because then he would be sleeping in her bed, in her house, next to _her_. Chikage.

Irwin's face grew warm in the darkness.

She had insisted he take the bed and she sleep on the floor, no matter how much he protested. Not to mention he was wearing boxers and a giant T-shirt of _Chikage's_, lying in _her _bed_._  Not to mention he acted like an idiot in front of her mom, and spilled a glass of water during dinner, and, and…

'It hadn't gone that bad,' he told himself.

Yeah. Sure.

 He sighed quietly and decided just staring at her without any other thought was much better.

Twelve thirty-four.

The moonlight came in the window, illuminating her sleeping figure (which, Irwin noted, was an extremely nice figure). Her rock-hard battle expression, her cheerful, encouraging smile, her flustered embarrassment, her uncertain glares… None were there now. It was just a peaceful, relaxed face, the tiniest smile on her lips, her blue hair spread out along the pillow, her aqua eyes closed in serenity.

A small smile crept to Irwin's lips, too. She was down right beautiful; even if he could never actually have her, he was here now, which nearly made up for that fact. He eased himself over and reached out a hand to brush her cheek. Her skin was a little darkened by being out so much, but still smooth and delicate.

And to Irwin's surprise she suddenly grabbed his hand in hers and rolled over, pulling him off the bed and to the floor with a particularly loud thud.

He began to panic, but after a minute it seemed no one had woken up. But there was the fact his hand was being held to Chikage's chest. _Her chest_.

Irwin's face went red when he realized his arm was being pressed to her boobs.

After a moment he tried tugging free, bug she had an iron-death grip on his arm. She was sleeping, and still was strong. He gulped, praying she didn't wake up, and began to slowly lift her arm up, pulling his arm free, when she rolled over and her other arm caught him around the neck, holding him fast.

Now, instead of his arm being held to her breasts, it was his _face._ This was not helping his oncoming nosebleed.

He held his breath as he slowly lifted her arms up to free himself.

She wriggled some, and he, now panicking, lost his grip and she flopped down. Now again trying to use him as a teddy bear, she got his whole body in a death grip.

Their faces were centimeters apart. The moonlight shone on her skin. This time, she didn't move, and she hadn't woken up yet. He managed to wiggle out from underneath her, and he found himself doing it with reluctance. He laid her arms back down, pulling her covers up and climbing back in to bed himself.

"I-Irwy-chan…"

Irwin looked down at Chikage, who was now talking in her sleep

_I-I-Irwy-c-chan?!_

How long would it be before he could fall asleep?

…

…

It would at least be a couple hours… maybe…

…

…

…

…

…

"Irwin, Irwin wake up."

Irwin rolled over. "Nu-uh…"

"Irwin, c'mon, wake up now."

"'Dun… nuhuh…"

"Please, Irwin, time to wake…"

"Guhh…"

Irwin's eyes opened to Chikage, who was leaning over him with a smile. "C'mon, I'm leaving soon."

In sleepy daze, he rolled over and pulled the covers up to his head, ignoring her.

"Irwy-chan, time to wake up…"

"No," He said flatly, regaining consciousness slowly but surely.

A soft brush on his cheek…

He sat upright, clutching the covers, a bit stunned. Was… was that… did she…

N-n-nahh… no… she wouldn't…

"Up yet?" She said with a soft morning smile.

"Y-Yeah, sorry."

"Good! We've gotta get moving. If you wanna get a quick shower, you can, but breakfast is downstairs on the table and if you don't hurry, I'll eat it all."

Irwin was staring at her blankly. He looked to the bathroom door on the opposite side of the room, then to Chikage's closet door, and inwardly blushed as he realized she could've been walking around naked and he just slept through it. He felt a brief disappointment along with embarrassment. Out loud he said, "Where is it that we're leaving for?"

"We're gonna pay a visit to Red," Chikage said with a strange look in her eye. Irwin blinked. "I thought you said you couldn't beat him?"

"If you're with me… maybe I can…" The rest was a mumble, and Chikage had been looking down as she said it.

"What?"

"Nothing! Let's go! Breakfast! Or wait, shower?!" She was near screeching.

"No shower, I'm fine," He said, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed, a little uncomfortable in just boxers and a shirt. Chikage was busily going through something in the depths of her closet, so he quickly pulled on his pants that had been lying at the foot of the bed, taking off the shirt Chikage had lent him. He noted that while most of her clothes were trans-gender, she would be better classified as a tomboy than girly-girl. Many of her shirts were old ones once worn by her father.

He had just picked up his own shirt, and Chikage had just looked up from whatever she had been rummaging through in her closet. Her eyes had only been on his shirtless torso for a half second before the closet once again reclaimed all of her attention.

Irwin sighed as a few rocks were dropped down that pit in his stomach, pulling his coat on, deciding to leave off the absurd clown-like hat he usually wore. Was he really that repulsive?

Breakfast was uneventful-Though he did gather up Chikage's plan. She had made a swing-like contraption with a board and some rope long before, and she informed Irwin that they could both fit on it, and her Noctowl was strong enough to carry them both to Mt. Silver, where she would find Red. She explained to him and her mother around mouthfuls bacon and pancakes that she had challenged Red before and lost, and she would go there to try again, and if she again failed, she wanted to stay there in the mountains for a month alone to train. He mother protested, but Chikage disregarded her worry, ensuring her Okassan that she would be fine if she stayed in the Poke'mon center nearby each night, her Poke'mon would protect her from any natural danger, and no person of extreme threat would be lurking around the mountains that only Poke'mon masters could navigate safely.

"I'm not that strong of a trainer you know, but I could stay with you," Irwin said, slurping up a bit of egg hanging from the corner of his mouth.

"Y-Y-Y-You don't have t-t-to d-do th-that…" Chikage spat out, tilting her head down. If she hadn't, the other two might've seen the impressive red color her whole face had taken on. Irwin personally hadn't, and figured with a gloomy thought that he should've made sure his mouth hadn't been full before offering such a bold alternative.

It wasn't long before Chikage had exchanged farewells with her mother, released he Noctowl, and had the swing ready. With a little scooting and readjusting and nervous waist touching the two had secured themselves in the same 40-inch space with as little physical contact as possible.  Taking off, though, they both rocked backward, and while Irwin grabbed the rope that was next to Chikage along with his, she had to quickly lower her own arm to avoid his flailing one and ended up grabbing his waist.

By the time they gathered that they weren't falling to their deaths, they were to high up to move around safely and without disturbing Noctowl, so the silently opted to stay where they were. They both would've been too embarrassed to move, anyway.

Irwin looked down at the land below. In this area, the trees were already turning pink. A sad prospect came to him. "Hey, if you lose and train for that month, we won't be able to go cherry blossom viewing." It was the first words either had spoken since takeoff.

"Well…" Silence grew between them. Irwin sighed. Of course, some measly day in the park watching some flower petals fall like they did every year wasn't at the top of her priority list, especially when it was going to be with some pale, skinny boy who had an obsessive-compulsive disorder with joker hats.

Weight fell softly on his shoulder. But the only thing it could be was Chikage, and the only part of Chikage it could be was her head. He forced himself to look to his left.

Chikage was leaning against him.

All thought vanished from Irwin's mind, besides her name.

Chikage. Chikage. ChikageChikageChikageChikageChikageChikage

"Well… I don't plan on losing."

What… what…

Irwin couldn't think properly. What did this mean?

He closed his eyes. It was probably safe to assume she actually did want to go see the cherry blossoms with him.

Questions had been raised, but the two youths were both too afraid to ask any of them, terrified at what the answers may be. So they merely settled for Irwin's arm around her, now more relaxed, Chikage's hand at his waist, her head leaning on his shoulder and his head leaning against hers.

-

Irwin peered around a boulder, the wind at the top of Mt. Silver blowing ferociously around him. He found himself once again disobeying Chikage's command to stay behind while she went in to another battle with an elite. The road at the end of the cave to reach Red was very slim, only a few yards wide and over a hundred feet above the ground-and it hadn't exactly been easy to get to this spot. What, did Red camp out here every night? Did he build a hut? What did he do up here during typhoons? Who the hell would want to stay here?

These thoughts were banished as the champions locked in combat came in to sight. Of course, a trainer was only as good as his Poke'mon, but still, he could never dream of raising his four electric friends to this level.

And, even as the titans clashed, he found himself thinking of his relationship with Chikage. This Red guy, he wasn't exactly bad-looking-He lived at the top of a freakin' mountain, he was no weakling-He was like, what, the best trainer there ever was? And the sparkle in Chikage's eyes when she spoke of him and their past battle, the excitement that obviously overcame her the closer the had drawn to their destination…. _This_ must be the kind of guy Chikage must want. But then, what was with the ride here? The way she… Did she come on to him? She was being quite friendly, but this was Chikage, she really could have just been acting friendly, it might not have meant much to her…

_'Stop being and idiot!'_ His mind snapped. '_You won't see a battle like this ever again! You're one of the few that ever will! Focus on something else besides your own romantic and emotional insecurity for once!_'

Chikage's Amphoros through out devastating bolts of lightning worse than any storm he had ever seen, and Red's Snorlax evaded them with greater agility than he had ever seen in a Poke'mon so large. As he watched, a feeling overcame him, an emotion so numbing yet beautiful that it pained his heart. He began to see the art in their movements, the fluent motions both the trainers and Poke'mon used that only years of training could instill, the grace in which the Poke'mon executed their moves, the skill and flair the trainers used the bring out the Poke'mon's true power… It entranced him.

It happened quite suddenly. Amphoros charged forward with a physical attack, and Snorlax bent down, them threw itself as Amphoros, beating it back. Amphoros hit the ground in front of Chikage, grinding back still through the dirt, and while it surely wasn't intended, hit Chikage and knocked her back also. Amphoros stopped just after, but Chikage was thrown in to the air, and considering there was only a few feet of ground left behind Chikage before it broke off in to nothing, it really should have been no surprise if somebody had fallen before.

Irwin watched in disbelieving horror as Chikage's frame flew in a graceful arch over the edge…

-

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Here's where we run in to some problems. I have two endings after this-First, the sad one, then the happy one. Of course, you can imagine what happens in each. The first will be the sad one, because I like it better, then the happy one will take off from this same spot right after.

Or, now that I think of it, I could leave it off here, and it'll still be nice and tragic. And I like that above line as an ending very much- _Irwin watched in disbelieving horror as Chikage's frame flew in a graceful arch over the edge…_-It just makes me feel frisky. I love it. I wasn't planning on writing that. Should I just end it there?

Nah, I went through the bother coming up with both endings, might as well get them down. Here we go.

-

SAD ENDING:

Irwin had run on to the battle platform so fast, he hadn't remembered the time it took to get there. He didn't see anything, not Red, not the Snorlax, not Amphoros, weakened by the last attack, trying to sit up with a anguished cry for its master, nothing besides the edge of the cliff as he threw himself down to look over.

For a few ghostly seconds, he could still see Chikage as she fell, one hand reaching up in vain. His hand flew down after on impulse, though she was far out of his grasp. Their eyes locked-she was falling so fast-her eyes-they were blank and empty, she had accepted her fate, her mouth was open and moving, but he couldn't hear what she was saying-

"Chikage!" Her name finally burst from Irwin's mouth, though by the time it finished echoing, the black below had consumed her.

"Chikage!" He screamed, though it was futile. "Chikage!" His voice was horse, dry, but he was beginning to realize what had just happened. "Chikage! CHIKAGE!  CHIKAGE! _CHIKAGE! CHIKAGE!! __CHIKAGE!!_"

He couldn't bring himself to raise his arm back over the cliff. He looked over his shoulder slowly. Red had fallen to his knees, horror-struck. Snorlax had opened its eyes, actually looking feeble in its shock, and the Amphoros had tears rolling down its face.

Chikage had a Noctowl-she'd call it out and it'd save her-but it was knocked out from a past fight with Red's Venasaur-also unconscious-and Red was too stunned to think of any way to save her, anyway-Magnamite was too weak, they couldn't left Chikage- 

Irwin looked back down in to the abyss. She could... could not… she could not have…

He hadn't even told her… that he loved her…

No… 

"CHIKAGE!"

-

A week later, Irwin sat under a cherry tree.

He could not bring himself to the police station when they wanted to question him about the incident, though he sent them a message, but could not reply to theirs when they had asked if he wanted to come and see the body after they had found it.

It. Not Chikage. Chikage no longer existed.

He could not bring himself to go to the funeral, where he might have been able to comfort Chikage's grieving mother at the very least. He could not bring himself to return to his old spot in front of the park against the fence, for if he did, he would have to accept that Chikage would never run down that road to greet him again. He had thrown his Poke'Gear in to the river, after spending two whole days trying to futilely call hers. While her Poke'Gear had been broken, her Poke'mon survived in their Poke'balls, and while they had been released, their love for their former trainer was too great, and they had stayed near her house, comforting Chikage's mother better than Irwin had, as if trying to fulfill a debt they had with Chikage. He could not bring himself to go to Mt. Silver again and tell Red it wasn't his fault, though he might've if Red hadn't given up battling the very next day, his Snorlax having run away in the night, most likely grief-ridden.

If he had gone to the funeral, he would've been one face among hundreds, all trainers or workers or just people touched by this girl so full of energy and life.

No. No energy. No life. Chikage was dead.

He couldn't bring himself to leave Cherrygrove. He camped out, his Poke'mon simply doing their best to help their tormented owner, sleeping under the trees of the softest pink. He knew someday, they would return to green, and it would be another year before flower petals again fell.

Fell… like Chikage… He should be here with her… watching these petals…

The boy sat under a cherry blossom tree, mourning the loss of his love, tears rolling down his face unceasingly.

-

I don't think that was sad enough. Ah well. It's late. I need to finish the happy ending and forget this piece of crap. When the hell did I start this fic?

-

HAPPY-SAPPY-CRAPPY ENDING:

Irwin had run on to the battle platform so fast, he hadn't remembered the time it took to get there. He didn't see anything, not Red, not the Snorlax, not Amphoros, weakened by the last attack, trying to sit up with a anguished cry for its master, nothing besides the edge of the cliff as he threw himself down to look over.

Her face was speeding away from his, one arm reaching up in vain, and as his eyes met hers, he threw an arm down, though she was already out of his reach.

He saw her lips move as she continued her descent, and he faintly made out was she was saying:

I love you.

His mind was burning as he squeezed his eyes shut. He needed to save her- save her-save her-_SAVE HER! __SAVE HER!_

'You idiot- your Poke'mon can fricken' levitate.'

"SAVE HER!" Irwin shouted with all his spirit, snatching two Poke'balls from his waist and tossing them down after Chikage. As soon as the Magnamite were out, the Poke'balls came back to him by program, and he caught them, hitched them to his waist, and leaned back over the edge.

At first, he could only make out a tiny shape in the darkness. His mind began numbing over as he thought it was his two companions returning in failure. Then he saw that it was too big to be the tiny magnet Poke'mon-the aqua color that was Chikage's hair-her face looking up towards him-her turquoise eyes swirling with emotions-

At this point, Irwin could reach her, and her trembling hand wrapped around his. He swung his other hand down and grabbed her first arm with both, the strain pushing him down against the cliff. He was actually surprised the his Magnamite had made it this far with the Chikage's weight-they couldn't go much longer, even if he did help share the burden now.

Chikage looked up at him. "Noctowl-she's too weak-I can get up-Your Magnamite-"

"Shut up! Just let us save you! I'm not gonna lose you, you bossy girl!" Irwin was slightly irritated-she showed no sign of fear, and it was almost like she wanted him to let her go now! Did she want to die!?

She showed a slight glare. "You shut up! I'll rip your arms out! I hope I make it and you fall to your doom!"

Irwin should've known it was dangerous to provoke her, but he finally thought-he could do something to help her-he was going to be the one to save her! He was going to show her he was worthwhile!

"You-need-me-and-you-know-it!" He grunted, now hauling Chikage up as she walked along the wall of the cliff.

"You-bastard! I'm not weak!"

"Just get your skanky ass up here!"

Suddenly, Chikage was back over the edge, and she was drifting toward the same solid ground Irwin was on, and she was sitting next to him. She was safe.

His two Magnamites gave an exhausted purr of joy, and Irwin called them back in to their Poke'balls so they could have a rest. One hand, though, had not let go of Chikage's.

"She's okay?" Red asked, walking up to them. Irwin noticed he had called his Alakazam out at some point-to catch Chikage, most likely, just in case. Chikage nodded. "I'm fine. Forgive me for the trouble. Do you want to continue the battle-"

"No, no, no," Red started, kneeling down next to the couple. "For one thing, you're probably pretty shaken up, you won't be fighting with as much confidence as before, and neither will your Poke'mon. I'm sorry- it was my fault-"

"Oh, no!" Chikage cut him off, waving her hand. Irwin noted she hadn't pulled her other hand away from his. "It was just a mistake, nothing more, don't blame yourself or your Snorlax!"

Red smiled. "He had to use much more force than usual. Your Poke'mon brought out the best in him. I would be honored to do battle with you again, when you're up to it."

Chikage looked down, then grinned. "Then, you won't mind if I challenge you again in a couple of days?"

-

A week later found the (now official) couple under the threes of Cherrygrove city.

"I don't believe it. I don't believe that after all this time…" Irwin was shaking his head. Chikage laughed in a playful annoyance.

"Yes! Yes, I love you! And you love me too, we're a big happy family, get over it!"

Irwin laughed. "You know… I have to be honest… when I said you had a skanky butt on the cliff…" Irwin was turning red, much more in character. "I lied. You have a nice non-skanky butt," He said in a small voice.

Chikage laughed. "And I don't hope you fall to your doom, either. Or lose your arms."

"Then... then we're even," he said with a smile, blushing as he reached in to the picnic basket for a rice ball.

Chikage was suddenly looking downcast, and very nervous. "What's wrong?" Irwin asked, blinking. Wasn't she just happy and laughing and all?"

"U-um…I-I-I…s-s-s-still haven't gotten any better at cooking, a-and…"

"Chikage! Get over it! I'll love whatever you make me!" He said, blushing in his honesty. As if to prove his point, he recklessly shoved the whole onigiri in his mouth, eating it eagerly. "Shwee? Mrgh lurgh ftt!"

Chikage blinked, staring at Irwin, who looked quite the crazy man, cheeks puffy with rice.

He gulped it down, deciding he had proved his point and it was best not to dwell on it anymore. "So, when are you going to fight Red again?"

Chikage now pulled out a rice ball herself. "Tomorrow, most likely." She took a bite. "Are you sure these okay?"

"Yes!"

The two now welcomed the silence that fell. The peaceful feelings were overwhelming, the petals falling, the clear sky, the soft grass and wind, the onigiri in his stomach, Chikage next to him, her body leaning against his…

"On the cliff… I wanted to protect you… I wanted to save you more than anything. I kinda wanted… to prove I could do something for you. I was almost reckless."

Chikage looked at him, surprised. Irwin didn't know that she had been thinking of all the things he _had_ done for her- Him helping her train, him encouraging her, talking to he via Poke'Gear when she was lonely, being someone she could trust and run to, he was always there, so it was like a place she could run home to…All the things she had wanted.

She hugged her knees to her chest. "You idiot."

Irwin looked surprised now. "What was that for?"

Chikage reached up and flicked one of the extensions of his joker hat. "Because I love you."

Irwin looked shocked, his cheeks bright red, his heart thumping in his ears. Then he coughed, and mustering up almost as much courage as it had taken him to first tell Chikage he returned her feelings, he put an arm around her shoulder, leaning back on both the cherry blossom tree and Chikage.

"If I'm an idiot, you're a freak," Was his affectionate reply.

"Fine with me." Chikage's hand that was not next to Irwin was raised and placed on his chest as she leaned up against him more tenderly.

"I… I love you."

Chikage nuzzled her head against his chest. "I love you too. And you don't mind I'm younger and bossy?"

Irwin was in a daze. Intoxicated by both Chikage's scent and the flower petals, he was so relaxed, he didn't care if his face was as red a tomato or not. "I love that about you. Without that, you wouldn't be you, and we wouldn't be here right now."

Chikage would've grinned and been playful, but she too was falling in to the same daze, and was just too sleepy. "And I wouldn't have fallen in love with you if you weren't an idiot."

Irwin muttered a last word as his eyes drifted shut, Chikage already sighing in content sleep. "This is… nice…"

-

Bah! That was horrible. But it's done. How long will it take for me to get off my lazy ass and post this?


End file.
